The It Lives Inside Trailer Brings A Terrifying Film Fest Favorite To Your Nightmares

Thanks to the massive success of "Get Out," the last several years have seen an influx of Black horror films, bringing some much-needed racial diversity to a predominantly white genre (so far as U.S. films go, natch). Latino horror has also been going strong as ever of late, with films like "Tigers Are Not Afraid" and "La Llorona" reaping critical accolades left and right. But what about Asian-American horror? No, the J-horror remake trend of the 2000s doesn't count, not least of all because most of those "Americanized" re-imaginings centered on white characters.

Enter "It Lives Inside." The first feature film written and directed by Bishal Dutta ("Triads"), the upcoming horror title was largely well-received during its premiere at the 2023 South by Southwest (SXSW) film festival. Reviewing the film for /Film, Matt Donato wrote, "Dutta doesn't hide influences in spotlight set pieces from 'The Ring' to 'It Follows' (intentional or not)," and you can spot those influences just as plainly in the film's newly-released (and pretty darn creepy) trailer. Nevertheless, "Scary is scary!" Matt argued, adding that the film "asserts its importance as an Indian-American ode to the outsiders stuck trying to live two separate lives and succeeds as a crossroads between international flavors and domestic horror mindsets." Check out the new trailer below!

In an official statement, Dutta talked about how his own personal experiences and love of classic horror films like "Jaws," "A Nightmare on Elm Street," and "The Shining" influenced his feature debut:

"After I moved to North America from India at the age of four, a lot of my social education came from watching American horror films. I always wondered, what were families like mine doing while Bruce the shark tore through Amity's waters, while Freddy Krueger slashed teenagers in the dreamscape, and while Jack Torrance chased his son through the maze-like halls of the Overlook? As it developed, "It Lives Inside" formed its own dual identity much like mine. On one hand, it is a love letter to the community and culture that raised me while on the other, it is a visceral experience that is designed to instill the same raw terror in its viewers that my favorite horror films instilled in me."

Again, it's clear as day how many of those films informed "It Lives Inside" based on the trailer, which is chockfull of images that evoke their more memorable iconography (from the surreal nightmare imagery of "Elm Street" to the visual of a parent attacking their kid in "The Shining"). And that's not immediately a bad thing! Scary is, indeed, scary, and the differences in cultural context may help to make these clichés feel a little fresher here.

Megan Suri, Neeru Bajwa, and Mohana Krishnan star in "It Lives Inside," which is set to open in theaters on September 22, 2023. Its synopsis reads:

Sam is desperate to fit in at school, rejecting her Indian culture and family to be like everyone else. When a mythological demonic spirit latches onto her former best friend, she must come to terms with her heritage in order to defeat it.